India and Pakistan are set to renew their traditional rivalry as they face each other in the Asia Cup 2018 group stage match on Wednesday in UAE.

Players in both teams routinely face intense pressure to win, and are threatened by extreme reactions in defeat. Extreme fan reactions to defeats in key matches such as in the ICC Cricket World Cup have been recorded, with a limited degree of violence and public disturbances. At the same time, India-Pakistan cricket matches have also offered opportunities for cricket diplomacy as a means to improve relations between the two countries by allowing heads of state to exchange visits and cricket followers from either country to travel to the other to watch the matches. But the rivalry had finally grown so much that Indian Government issued a bill that stated that Indian players will not be going to Pakistan for safety reasons.

Since 2008, India has refused to play series against Pakistan : something the ICC is unable to prevent them from doing. Pakistan has offered to play at neutral venues but this has been rejected. However, the two sides are not able to opt out from playing each other in ICC events if drawn in the same group.

India and Pakistan Asia CUP 2018 Live Logo 2018

India and Pakistan are set to renew their traditional rivalry as they face each other in the Asia Cup 2018 group stage match on Wednesday in UAE. The last time the two sides met was the final clash of Champions Trophy 2017 in England.

Stand-in captain Rohit Sharma will lead the defending champions in the absence of Virat Kohli. Ahead of the bitter rivalry, which is set to take place on September 19, let us take a look at important statistics, head-to-head and past battles between the neighbours:

# Out of the 12 times India and Pakistan met in the Asia Cup, the Men in Blue have won six times, the Green Army were victorious five times with one being declared No Result.

# India are the most successful side participating in the Asia Cup, having won the title a total of six times. Pakistan, on the other hand, have won twice.

# Virat Kohli is the highest run-getter at 459 runs including two centuries and an average of 45.90 in the 12 India vs Pakistan clashes in the last decade. He has, however, been rested for the Asia Cup tournament.

# Mohammed Hafeez is the highest run-scorer for Pakistan with 437 runs in nine matches at an average of 54.62. He will also be giving the tournament a miss.

# Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who returns from a back-injury, has the best bowling record against Pakistan at Asia Cup, having claimed a total of 11 wickets in seven clashes. He is closely followed by Ishant Sharma, who is also at 11 wickets in equal number of matches.

# Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal is the highest wicket-taker for Pakistan with an impressive 20 wickets from nine matches. He has now retired from cricket.

All Record On Asia CUP India vs Pakistan, Head-to-head:

1984 Asia Cup: India beat Pakistan by 54 runs.

1988 Asia Cup: India beat Pakistan by 4 wickets.

1995 Asia Cup: Pakistan beat India by 97 runs.

1997 Asia Cup: Match abandoned due to rain.

2000 Asia Cup: Pakistan beat India by 44 runs.

2004 Asia Cup: Pakistan beat India by 59 runs.

2008 Asia Cup: India beat Pakistan by 6 wickets in group stage before Pakistan defeated India in the Super Four stage.

The India–Pakistan cricket rivalry is one of the most extreme and intensified sports rivalries in the world. The arch-rival relations between the two nations, resulting from the extensive communal violence and conflict that marked the Partition of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947 and the subsequent Kashmir conflict, laid the foundations for the emergence of an intense sporting rivalry between the two nations who had otherwise shared a common cricketing heritage.

The first Test series between the two teams took place in 1951–52, when Pakistan toured India. India toured Pakistan for the first time in 1954-55. Between 1962 and 1977, no cricket was played between the two countries owing to two major wars in 1965 and 1971. The 1999 Kargil War and the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks have also interrupted cricketing ties between the two nations.

The growth of large expatriate populations from India and Pakistan across the world led to neutral states like the United Arab Emirates and Canada hosting several bilateral and multilateral ODI series involving the two teams. Tickets for the India-Pakistan match in the 2015 World Cup in Australia sold out in 12 minutes after they went on sale.